Staff Sgt. Christopher Cordy, a swim instructor, coaches Rct. Russell Karns, Platoon 3054, Kilo Company, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, while he swims 25 meters during water survival qualification May 12, 2014, on Parris Island, S.C. Instructors like Cordy, 31, from Bowling Green, Ohio, spent extra time teaching recruits who had difficulty with the qualification or never learned to swim before boot camp. Recruits also learned how to create makeshift flotation devices using their utility uniforms and packs, leapt from a tower into deep water and shed their heavy gear in 10 seconds or less while underwater. Each exercise simulates a water survival technique recruits may need if they become Marines. Karns, 19, from Bedford, Pa., is scheduled to graduate July 11, 2014. Parris Island has been the site of Marine Corps recruit training since Nov. 1, 1915. Today, approximately 20,000 recruits come to Parris Island annually for the chance to become United States Marines by enduring 13 weeks of rigorous, transformative training. Parris Island is home to entry-level enlisted training for 50 percent of males and 100 percent of females in the Marine Corps. (Photo by Cpl. Caitlin Brink)